RICHMOND, Va. - The
University of Richmond Spiders baseball team lost a closely fought game to VCU
at The Diamond on Tuesday night, 6-4.
With the setback, Richmond falls to 22-23 on the season while the Rams
improve to 28-21.

Out of the bullpen, freshman James Lively pitched well,
tossing a strong 4.1 innings of relief.
Lively allowed one run on only two hits while striking out five. Sophomore Andrew Brockett also had a nice
outing, pitching 1.2 perfect innings with one strikeout. Starting the game, Williams took the loss for
the Spiders.

The Spiders jumped on the Rams early Tuesday night, scoring
a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.
After a leadoff single from McConnell, a sacrifice bunt, and a walk to Ruzbarsky,
runners were on first and second with one out for Cowell. On a 2-2 pitch, Cowell blasted a double off
the fence in left-center field, plating both runners easily.

The Rams would answer
back in a big way, however, scoring five runs in the second inning and adding
another in the third to take a 6-2 lead headed to the top of the fifth.

In the top half of the fifth, the Spiders were able to cut
the lead to three, 6-3. With just one
out, Richmond loaded the bases after a pair of singles and a HBP. After a pop out, Williams earned a RBI the
hard way, getting plunked on the right shoulder.

Still trailing 6-3, the Spiders headed to the top of the
ninth in need of a rally. With one out,
McConnell recorded his third hit of the day to reach. After a strikeout, Ruzbarsky doubled to deep
left-center field, plating McConnell to cut the lead to 6-4. That's as close as the Spiders would get,
however, as Cowell struck out to end the game.

The Richmond Spiders will head north this weekend for an
Atlantic 10 conference series with the Rhode Island Rams. The three-game set gets underway on Friday
with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.